Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Subdivision, Rezoning To Be Considered
FARMINGTON — Farmington Planning Commission will consider two items at its Oct. 28 meeting that could affect almost 200 acres of pasture land near Farmington High and Folsom Elementary schools.
The commission meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 354 W. Main St.
The commission’s agenda includes a preliminary plat for a new housing subdivision with 234 lots and a request to rezone 117 acres from R-1 to R-3, a designation that allows smaller lots for single-family homes.
A preliminary plat for Clyde Carnes subdivision has been submitted by Engineering Services
Inc., of Springdale for a development located on about 75 acres behind Farmington High’s new sports complex. The land currently is owned by Michael Mashburn Revocable Trust.
The land is already zoned R-1, which requires a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet. The preliminary plat shows most lots would be .25 acre or .30 acre. Riggins Construction is the developer of the subdivision. Riggins also built Saddlebrook subdivision on Clyde Carnes Road.
The preliminary plat shows the subdivision would have two entrances from Clyde Carnes Road, a detention pond and a proposed
lift station for sewer. Water would be provided by Washington County Water Authority and the city of Fayetteville would provide sewer service.
The development already has been through the city’s technical plat process.
Bates & Associates engineering firm of Fayetteville submitted a request to rezone about 117 acres from R-1 to R-3 on behalf of Mark Marquess with Riverwood Homes, according to Geoffrey Bates. Bates said Riverwood has a contract to purchase the land, contingent on the rezoning and preliminary plat approval.
According to the application, the developer is requesting an R-3 zone “to reduce the minimum lot width from 75 feet to 70 feet.”
This undeveloped land is located east of Folsom Elementary School, south of Countryside Drive and west of Farmington’s ballpark and Briar Hill Street. The land is adjacent to the proposed Clyde Carnes subdivision.
A map attached to the application shows the rezoning request does not apply to a strip of land that adjoins Twin Falls subdivision. This area would remain R-1, if the rezoning is approved by the Planning Commission and by Farmington City Council.
Marquess said he is proposing three communities in the same subdivision with preliminary plans to build 350 homes over the next five years in several phases. When finished, the development would have multiple water features, small parks and walkways connecting Folsom Elementary, the sports complex and the high school, Marquess said.
The first phase would have about 13 larger homes (2,3503,000 square feet) called Estates, backing up to Twin Falls subdivision on the land zoned R-1; 37 medium size homes or Manors (1,7002,300 square feet) and about 70 smaller homes called Cottages (1,350-1,700 square feet). Marguess said the subdivision would be similar to Riverwood’s subdivision in Fayetteville, Sloanbrooke on Broyles Street. This subdivision has three sizes of homes.
The tentative name for the subdivision is The Grove at Engels Mill, referring to Farmington’s first name (Engels Mill) and to a grove of trees across from Folsom Elementary, Marquess said.
“We want to bring in some of the old with the new,” Marquess said.
Bates said the lot sizes for the subdivision would be similar to lot sizes in Southwinds Subdivision in Farmington. He said lots along Countryside Drive are 65 feet by 131 feet and lots on Briarhill are 66 feet by 130 feet.
Most of the lots proposed by Riverwood in the R-3 zone would be 72 feet in width, with the smallest lots 66 feet in width, according to Bates.
“These are almost the same size lots (as Southwinds subdivision),” Bates said. “We just needed a little less width and R-3 gives that.”
An R-1 zone has a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet with 10-foot setbacks on each side. An R-3 zone has a minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet. R-3 allows zerolot lines on one side of a lot, with a 10-foot setback on the other side.
The commission agenda also includes a request to rezone property at the corner of U.S. 62 and Bethel Blacktop from R-1 to C-2, highway commercial, and a request to rezone 1.5 acres on Archie Watkins from agricultural to R-1.
In addition, the commission will consider the final plat for Redbird Subdivision on Double Springs Road. The final plat includes a request for a variance to reduce the rear setback for the lots from 20 feet to 15 feet.